Archives

Date

Sony Names Sir Howard Stringer as First Foreign Chairman and CEO

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 7, 2005 - 6:52am.
Tokyo -- Japanese electronics and media giant Sony Corporation on Monday appointed its first foreign chairman and chief executive, former CBS executive Sir Howard Stringer, who will replace outgoing company head Nobuyuki Idei. Stringer, who was born in Wales, holds dual British-American citizenship and speaks no Japanese, was previously vice chairman at Sony and CEO of Sony Corp. of America. "As with all great institutions, Sony has built a tremendous legacy over 60 years. But we cannot let that trap us or inhibit us. We need to take that legacy and reinvent it," Stringer said. "The dynamics and competitive landscape have changed. The pace of innovation across all the businesses in which we compete has changed. So Sony too must change." Sony also announced that company president Kunitake Ando will step down, to be replaced by Ryoji Chubachi, an executive with Sony Electronics.
tags: Sony | CEO | Sir Howard Stringer | Foreign Chairman |

Report: 37% of Americans Went Online for Political News During 2004

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 7, 2005 - 6:49am.
Washington -- Seventy-five million Americans, or about 37% of the adult population, went online to get political news and information during the 2004 election year, according to a survey conducted by the Pew Internet & American Life Project. Furthermore, 61% of online Americans used the Internet to find political news and information, discuss candidates and debate issues in emails, or participate directly in the political process by volunteering or giving contributions to candidates. While television still remains the primary source of political news for registered voters, the Internet surpassed radio for the first time, as 18% said they got most political news last year online, compared with 17% for radio.
tags: Internet | Reports | Online | Americans | Political News |

U.K. Record Industry Settles 23 Suits Against File-Swappers, Files 31 More

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 7, 2005 - 6:47am.
London -- The British Phonographic Industry (BPI), a U.K. record label trade group, announced that it has settled 23 lawsuits it filed against Internet music file-swappers in October 2004, with defendants paying penalties of up to $8,600 each. "We have no desire to drag people through the courts. So we have attempted to reach fair settlements where we can," said BPI general counsel Geoff Taylor. The BPI also said it sued 31 additional individuals for alleged copyright infringement on eight peer-to-peer networks, including eDonkey, Soulseek, Limewire, Bearshare and Imesh. "If illegal file-sharers think that they can avoid getting caught by staying away from the most popular networks like KaZaA, they're wrong," Taylor added. The BPI's U.S. counterpart, the Recording Industry Association of America, has now sued over 9,000 individuals suspected of Internet music file-sharing.
tags: U.K. | File-Swappers | Record Industry |

Second DVD "Screener" Pirate Charged with Criminal Copyright Infringement

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 7, 2005 - 6:44am.
Los Angeles -- Federal authorities have charged a California man with criminal copyright infringement for uploading a "screener" copy of the Miramax film "Finding Neverland" onto Internet file-sharing networks, The Los Angeles Times reported. If convicted, 24-year-old Rolyn Abugan, of Corona, faces up to one year in prison and a $100,000 fine. The FBI said Abugan received the screener DVD from Producers Guild of America member Shawna Chance, who was unsuccessful playing the film in her DVD player and tried to get a compatible copy made. Chance gave the DVD to her boyfriend, who in turn gave it to a co-worker, who then gave it to Abugan -- who posted it to an Internet file-sharing group called Centropy, which promised to remove the watermarks that could trace the copy back to himself and Chance. Abugan is the second individual charged with leaking an Academy Awards screener DVD onto the Internet; the first, Russell Sprague, was convicted and recently found dead of an apparent heart attack in his Los Angeles jail cell while awaiting sentencing.
tags: DVD | Screener | Pirate Charged | Criminal Copyright Infringement |

Virgin Radio to Offer World's First 3G Radio Broadcast for Cell Phones

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 7, 2005 - 6:42am.
London -- Virgin Radio, a London-based broadcaster, recently announced that it hopes become the first radio station in the world to offer radio services for 3G mobiles. "It places radio at the heart of the 3G revolution," said Virgin Radio new media director James Cridland. "This application will enable anyone, anywhere to listen to Virgin Radio simply with the phone in their pocket." Together with Sydus, a U.K.-based technology firm, Virgin will to offer radio broadcasts on both 2G and 3G networks. Virgin said customers would soon be able to download client software developed by Sydus that allows them to access the Virgin Radio service. Two other stations, Virgin Radio Classic Rock and Virgin Radio Groove, are soon to follow. Virgin said the service, which will use about 7.2MB of data per hour, would likely appeal only to customers with unlimited connections.
tags: Mobiles | Virgin Radio | 3G Radio Broadcast |

Google Launches Full Desktop Search, Weather Search Service

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 7, 2005 - 6:40am.
Mountain View, Calif. -- Search engine firm Google on Monday released the full version of Google Desktop, the company's free downloadable software that lets users search a computer's e-mail, files, media, Web history and chats. The full version of the software includes the ability to search PDF, video and music files, support for Netscape and Firefox, and also includes a software development kit (SDK) so programmers can make alterations to the application themselves. Separately, Mountain View, Calif.-based Google introduced a new feature to its search engine that allows users to search for local weather forecasts, by typing "weather" followed by the location, zip code or city/state into its search engine. The service is available for cell phones in addition to from the Web.
tags: Google | Full Desktop Search | Weather Search Service |

Report: DVD to Spur Electronic Entertainment Growth in Europe

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 7, 2005 - 6:37am.
Scottsdale, Ariz. -- DVD sales and rentals in Europe will grow from $9.3 billion in 2004 to nearly $17 billion in 2009, spurring electronic entertainment growth in the five largest European countries, according to a report from market research firm In-Stat. While Hollywood studios are reporting strong DVD sales growth in the U.K., Germany, France, Italy and Spain, In-Stat said locally-produced DVD content represents the fastest-growing segment. The report also predicts the number free-to-air digital TV service subscribers will grow from 4.9 million in 2004 to 23.7 million in 2009, wihle digital terrestrial TV will grow from 4.1% of TV households in 2004 to nearly 20% by 2009. Meanwhile, In-Stat predicts cable TV growth will be flat to slightly negative and for-pay satellite TV will grow by 6%. "New digital delivery services such as digital terrestrial and IP-TV are not likely to supplant the DVD business, but rather bring digital entertainment to people by adding either convenience, mobility, or improved accessibility," said In-Stat analyst Gerry Kaufhold.
tags: Europe | Reports | DVD | Spur Electronic Entertainment |

Mobile Interactive Broadcast Developer Celltick Raises $11 Million

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 7, 2005 - 6:34am.
London -- Celltick Technologies, a U.K.-based developer of interactive mobile broadcast technology, announced on Monday that it has raised $11 million in its third round of venture capital financing. New investor Amadeus Capital Partners led the investment round, in which existing investor Jerusalem Venture Partners also participated. Celltick's main product, LiveScreen, delivers free, silent and non-intrusive messages on cell phone screens while they are idle -- such as news and sports headlines, traffic updates and multiplayer games. When users see an item of interest, they can click on the item to launch a mobile browser and initiate the content service. The company's services are currently offered by mobile operators including Hutchison India, China Unicom, Orange Israel and MTN Networks in Sri Lanka. Celltick plans to use the funds to expand its global sales and marketing activities.
tags: Deals | VC | Celltick | Mobile Interactive Broadcast Developer |